Stephen Glynn – författare

This concise yet comprehensive study explores the emblematic journey by four young men from Liverpool from the epicentre of teen-led youth culture to the experimentation of the counterculture and beyond.

Beginning with the celebration of Britain’s own ‘youthquake’ in the joyous and genre-shifting A Hard Day’s Night (1964), the author delves into how the Beatles’ film work allows us to chart their subsequent musical maturation and retreat from the tribulations of stardom in Help!, their tentative attempts at improvised filming in the televised Magical Mystery Tour (1967), their acceptance of cartoon representations as leaders of the hippie counterculture in Yellow Submarine (1968), and the final implosion of their musical dynamic in the recording studios of Let It Be (1970). The book analyses how, as they grew with their fanbase, the Beatles’ films alternate stylistically between mimetic representation and allegorical interpretation, and switch narratively between fan-filled and welcoming worlds, to films relaying introspection and isolation.

Offering an in-depth case study of the successes and failures of British youth culture in a volatile decade, The Beatles and Film is an engaging text for both scholars and general readers alike.

This concise yet comprehensive study explores the emblematic journey by four young men from Liverpool from the epicentre of teen-led youth culture to the experimentation of the counterculture and beyond.

Beginning with the celebration of Britain’s own ‘youthquake’ in the joyous and genre-shifting A Hard Day’s Night (1964), the author delves into how the Beatles’ film work allows us to chart their subsequent musical maturation and retreat from the tribulations of stardom in Help!, their tentative attempts at improvised filming in the televised Magical Mystery Tour (1967), their acceptance of cartoon representations as leaders of the hippie counterculture in Yellow Submarine (1968), and the final implosion of their musical dynamic in the recording studios of Let It Be (1970). The book analyses how, as they grew with their fanbase, the Beatles’ films alternate stylistically between mimetic representation and allegorical interpretation, and switch narratively between fan-filled and welcoming worlds, to films relaying introspection and isolation.

Offering an in-depth case study of the successes and failures of British youth culture in a volatile decade, The Beatles and Film is an engaging text for both scholars and general readers alike.

In this unique study, Stephen Glynn demonstrates that Kate Bush’s work, in both sound and vision, has long been influenced and characterised by, and at times aimed at, film and television media.

The volume explores in depth Bush’s ‘music of allusion’ and analyses first the significance of film and television references throughout the lyrics and settings of her songs, beginning with her breakthrough hit ‘Wuthering Heights’. It also surveys the shaping presence of film and television in the look, narrative and artistry of her music videos, including the examination of celebrated works such as ‘Cloudbusting’ and ‘Hounds of Love’. Finally, the book assesses Bush’s most intensive cinematic undertaking, her 1993 album The Red Shoes, with its evident homage to the 1948 film of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, and its concurrent visual reworking as Bush’s sole film venture, The Line, The Cross & The Curve. Thus, with its deployment across music, video and film, Glynn demonstrates the centrality of Kate Bush’s cinephilia to her work.

Accessible yet academically rigorous, Kate Bush and the Moving Image is a stand-out study of the iconic singer-songwriter’s discography and cinematic ventures. It will appeal to both students and scholars of Film, Television, Media, Cultural and Popular Music Studies.

In this unique study, Stephen Glynn demonstrates that Kate Bush’s work, in both sound and vision, has long been influenced and characterised by, and at times aimed at, film and television media.

The volume explores in depth Bush’s ‘music of allusion’ and analyses first the significance of film and television references throughout the lyrics and settings of her songs, beginning with her breakthrough hit ‘Wuthering Heights’. It also surveys the shaping presence of film and television in the look, narrative and artistry of her music videos, including the examination of celebrated works such as ‘Cloudbusting’ and ‘Hounds of Love’. Finally, the book assesses Bush’s most intensive cinematic undertaking, her 1993 album The Red Shoes, with its evident homage to the 1948 film of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, and its concurrent visual reworking as Bush’s sole film venture, The Line, The Cross & The Curve. Thus, with its deployment across music, video and film, Glynn demonstrates the centrality of Kate Bush’s cinephilia to her work.

Accessible yet academically rigorous, Kate Bush and the Moving Image is a stand-out study of the iconic singer-songwriter’s discography and cinematic ventures. It will appeal to both students and scholars of Film, Television, Media, Cultural and Popular Music Studies.

This unique book demonstrates the central importance of visual media to the significance of British Punk rock pioneers the Sex Pistols, beginning with their nation-shocking television interview with Bill Grundy in December 1976.

Supported by an examination of surrounding documentary and fictional texts, The Sex Pistols on Screen centres on four key film and television/streaming depictions with and about the four-man group across four decades, namely The Great Rock ’n’ Roll Swindle (Temple, 1980), Sid and Nancy (Cox, 1986), The Filth and the Fury (Temple, 2000), and Pistol (Boyle, 2022). Though promising an oppositional stance, these works consistently demonstrate how the mainstream media disarm and commodify any genuine sense of mid-1970s anarchy. In addition, their differing personal perspectives exemplify the subjectivity and self-interested advocacy of all historical interpretation. Nonetheless, they still provide a sense of the empowering hit delivered by the Sex Pistols’ pugnacious music and galvanic live performances.

Accessible yet academically rigorous, The Sex Pistols on Screen is a significant study of the visual media’s importance in forging, reworking and reviving both the history and reputation of this seminal band. It will appeal both to the general reader and students of film, television, media and cultural and popular music studies.

This unique book demonstrates the central importance of visual media to the significance of British Punk rock pioneers the Sex Pistols, beginning with their nation-shocking television interview with Bill Grundy in December 1976.

Supported by an examination of surrounding documentary and fictional texts, The Sex Pistols on Screen centres on four key film and television/streaming depictions with and about the four-man group across four decades, namely The Great Rock ’n’ Roll Swindle (Temple, 1980), Sid and Nancy (Cox, 1986), The Filth and the Fury (Temple, 2000), and Pistol (Boyle, 2022). Though promising an oppositional stance, these works consistently demonstrate how the mainstream media disarm and commodify any genuine sense of mid-1970s anarchy. In addition, their differing personal perspectives exemplify the subjectivity and self-interested advocacy of all historical interpretation. Nonetheless, they still provide a sense of the empowering hit delivered by the Sex Pistols’ pugnacious music and galvanic live performances.

Accessible yet academically rigorous, The Sex Pistols on Screen is a significant study of the visual media’s importance in forging, reworking and reviving both the history and reputation of this seminal band. It will appeal both to the general reader and students of film, television, media and cultural and popular music studies.

This book constitutes the first monograph dedicated to an academic analysis of David Bowie’s appearances in film. Through close textual analysis together with production and reception histories, Bowie’s ‘silver screen’ career is explored in full. The book covers performance documentaries such as Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, star vehicles ranging from the eulogised The Man Who Fell to Earth to the excoriated Just a Gigolo, plus roles from the horror chic of The Hunger and cult fantasy of Labyrinth to the valiant high-brow Baal and vainglorious high-budget Absolute Beginners, ending with Bowie as Bowie in Bandslam and others as ‘Bowie’ in Velvet Goldmine and Stardust. Alongside showing his willingness to experiment (and at times fail) across a variety of genres, this study investigates Bowie’s performative style that, while struggling to accommodate the requirements of cinematic realism, fits more harmoniously with alternative production codes and aesthetics. More broadly, by exploring the commercial, socio-cultural and ideological significance of Bowie on film, the book demonstrates how notions of gender, sexuality and identity formation, plus commodity and cultural capital, function and fluctuate in contemporary society.